The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), says its 7,000-megawatt power project has reached the design stage.
The Managing Director of the Commission, Nsima Ekere, said U.S based Exim bank is supporting the realization of the project.
“The Niger Delta power pool project is conceived to generate 7,000 megawatts of electricity. “We are still at the design stage and interestingly, we have received a lot of encouragement from the US Exim Bank”.
In a meeting with Sinotec, the Chinese firm chosen to execute the project, Samuel Adjogbe, Executive Director of Projects, said electricity is needed to activate the industrial potentials of the oil reach region: “We have looked at some indicators and it is obvious that the power requirement for industrial growth in the region is not available. So, we need to make a deliberate effort to set up projects that can boost power and attract investors to the region.”
NDDC says It hopes to build industrial parks across all states of the region. Considering the concentration of energy resources in the Delta, Ekere says power is the key enabler of economic growth, in the region: “The success of our collective mandate to develop the Niger Delta depends on how much we are able to make the region the hub of socio-economic activities and tourism in Nigeria.”
NDDC says it will subsidize electricity supply to the industrial clusters once the project is completed.
